In October, student clubs from across campus came together to form the New AU campaign, fighting for democracy, transparency and accountability on campus.
Starting out with a week of action that culminated in a rally and letter delivery to President Kerwin, there was real momentum behind the movement, between groups that had no prior experience working together.
Since then, the New AU campaign has continued, reaching out to other student groups and continuing to spread the word about the issues that we have been working on.
The momentum of the early actions transformed into more grassroots support, as AU students began to stand up for increased democracy, transparency and accountability — students who had never been involved before. We met with administration figures to advocate for our central issues in AU offices as well as on the Quad.
As the semester ends, it is time to reflect on the achievements of the New AU campaign and how to take further steps to ensure our voices are heard on campus.
A few weeks ago, President Kerwin released a new statement on social responsibility, addressing many of the issues brought up by the New AU campaign, and pledged to put together a working group that will include students in order to amend and implement these new policies. At the open forum with the Board of Trustees, Kerwin said this working group would be put together in the beginning of the spring semester.
We consider this a significant victory for recognizing the voices of students on campus when it comes to social responsibility on campus.
As with anything, the devil is in the details: the administration must take this endeavor seriously for it to work, and students will continue to hold the administration’s feet to the fire if administrators choose not to stand by their statement on social responsibility.
Across campus, students are organizing for a better, new AU.
The Student Worker Alliance has been addressing a variety of student and worker concerns, especially relating to parking rates. Occupy AU has been mobilizing students to get involved with the Occupy movement and has been raising awareness around a variety of issues affecting students on campus, especially student debt. The Disability Rights Coalition has been working towards creating a more accessible campus. Take Back the Tap has been a major initiative of EcoSense, trying to reduce our campus’ environmental footprint. And American Vegan Outreach is fighting for a more vegan friendly environment here at AU.
The New AU campaign is now winding down. The focus of much of our action is shifting, as we continue to pressure the University to stand by the policies they espouse.
And as the New AU campaign will not be continuing as we have known it into the spring semester, the fight continues. We will be there when the Board of Trustees meets again in February.
We want to encourage any and all students interested in activism to seek out the organizations that interest you. Start an organization of your own, and help us build the movement.
Building A New AU isn’t about a single campaign or ‘flyering’ or marches. It is the collective effort to build a better university, and together we can do that.
